Tears of Love
by Splasher
Summary: SasuTen. Sasuke, full of loneliness, needs a comrade. Tenten, full of friendship, needs someone to acknowledge her. Together, they might be enough... By the way, this turned out to be more in the genre of friendship, not romance unless you squint.


_Author's Notes_: Sasuke x Tenten is one of my all-time favorite couples. And this is my first one-shot, so I hope you enjoy! And if anyone asks, yes, the poem is mine. Yeah, that poem's really dumb, but . . . it was fun to write! Anyway please review to help me improve! Thanks so much! Have fun reading!

_Summary_: SasuTen. Sasuke, full of loneliness, needs someone to be with. Tenten, full of friendship, needs someone to acknowledge her. Together, they might be enough.

_Disclaimer_: I do not any of Naruto's characters. But I do own this specific idea for my fan-fiction, and I own my poem _Forever Up High_ inserted in the story.

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Tears of Love

_Coldness, hiding feelings deep within,_

_Rarely smiling, the outcome of sin._

I always saw something inside of him, something beneath that coldness, that power. Something always glowed in his eyes. Coldness never had existed in him, despite what everyone thought. It was despair.

He rarely smiled. Whenever he did smile (which was never), I knew something had really made him happy—something that would make another person crumple down with mad hysterics or cry tears of happiness.

_He can understand his past, his life._

_Never again playing with knives._

_Alone and only is the result_

_Of the sole loved one joining his cult._

I had heard tales of his childhood. How his entire clan had been destroyed by his older brother, the same older brother whom he had grown to love as much as any of his family members.

But it was all gone now. Sasuke's older brother had murdered his entire family on the night of a full moon. He was now the sole survivor. He was now alone.

_Wanting, longing, yet never speaking . . ._

_The fate of mere happiness-seeking?_

_I could see the tenderness hidden._

_Afraid. Sorrow coming when bidden._

I remember when I had first seen him. He was attractive, and I fell for his looks. I had gained a crush for him, and nothing more.

But my crush changed to love, once I learned to know him more. I met him coincidentally upon the streets of Konohagakure. He was striding down the road without any companion, without any friend.

I couldn't stand to see him with that dark look in his eyes, which I had instantly realized to be grief and loneliness. I could understand his feelings, for I was just as lonely. No one paid attention to me; I was weak—not as weak as Ino or Sakura, but still not as strong as Neji or even someone like Naruto Uzumaki. Only Rock Lee would compliment me on my flawless aim, but I knew his praise was empty, just as my praise was for myself.

Sasuke and I were both lonely, I knew.

"Sasuke-san," I greeted him when he didn't even look at me.

He finally glanced in my direction, his eyes aloof and distant. "Tenten." He said nothing more, but his legs remained rooted to the spot as if he were hoping _I_ would talk.

"I'm going back home since it's almost dark," I explained in a desperate attempt to keep a conversation going. "Where are you going?

He looked away, off into the sunset. "Where do you live?" he asked, rather than answering my question. Through my eyes, he seemed hesitant to tell me, as though telling me would only embarrass him.

I decided to avoid hurting his feelings, so I didn't repeat my former question, as I most definitely would have done to Neji or Gai-sensei. "North from here. Just a few more blocks down the road. Why?"

"I'm headed that way, too," he said and stepped beside me. We began walking north. North, parallel to the sunset.

_The fight draws on—fight of affection._

_Each word disappears with each breath took._

_He hears, th' effect of isolation_

_I know he hears, without words, mere look._

Silence overcame any attempt at more conversations. Mostly I just babbled on and never asked him a single question. If I did, he avoided it or didn't offer more detail than was needed. _How's Sakura—fine. How's Naruto—I don't know. How's Kakashi—the same; how's Gai-sensei?_

I gave up asking him, and just talked about myself.

He didn't make any noise to declare he was listening. But I could see his face barely sadden if I told him something about Rock Lee's sorrowful condition, or slightly smirk if I made a joke about Gai-sensei's strange behaviors.

I only wished he would speak more of his own life, of his own dreams. I felt as if I was talking into a vacuum, even if I knew he was listening.

"Sasuke-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Enough about me. Tell me more about yourself."

"Hn."

Silence.

I was impulsive sometimes, and I knew if the person walking beside me was anyone else, then I would keep asking questions, and I would demand answers. But he was Sasuke; he was different.

Sasuke didn't comprehend how to make friends, ever since I had known him. Sasuke had seen his whole family killed by the person dearest to him. Sasuke was alone.

_Strangle-hold grows as I leave his side,_

_The desire for time passes with a tide._

_I couldn't hear his silent shouts of want,_

_Till any corrections would sound too blunt _

We arrived at my house, still heading north on the road.

"It was nice to see you, Tenten," he said politely. His words were empty of all emotion.

Feeling a little betrayed and cut off from being his friend, despite the circumstances, I nodded curtly, and headed toward my door. Before I could enter, I glanced back at him out of remorse.

His eyes, his dark onyx eyes, were scrutinizing me, never letting me go completely. His words were empty, yes, but his actions showed me only how much he regretted arriving here and leaving me behind so fast. He didn't want me to leave this soon. He stood there, the look of despair in his eyes intensifying, with no one by his side anymore.

He really had no one to talk to due to his personality, the type that withdraws whenever upset intrudes. I felt my heart grow clogged in my throat as I realized how much more lonely he must be than I was. We were not the same at all. But I wouldn't cry; instead, I would save him from that sadness. We would save each other.

The darkness of the sky that always appeared after sunset was beautiful yet lonely. Sad but sweet. Sasuke was attractive and alone, just as the night was.

Suddenly the breeze blew by, pushing my bangs from my face, and I saw as Sasuke's dark hair drifted in the wind as well as it rid us of the uncomfortable silence. The wind and our gazes were enough words for the both of us.

_Where was he going? To somewhere quite new?_

_I needed sight of his face less blue . . ._

"Thanks, Sasuke-san! See ya!" I shouted from my doorway.

He nodded once and prepared to leave.

I rushed inside the door, and ran to the window. Knowing I would hate to see the look of loneliness again in Sasuke's face, I had to make sure it had, at the very least, lessened. I didn't know what had caused my feelings to arise over someone like him, but I knew right then that my crush had evolved into a love. I loved Sasuke now.

As I found him strolling down the street again from the window, I noticed something very peculiar.

We had arrived at my house by heading north. Sasuke had said he was heading in the same direction. If the Uchiha had been telling me the truth, he should have still been heading north.

I watched as Sasuke strode down the street.

In the direction of south.

From the distance, I could see a slight smile on his face. It was barely there—only a fragment of one, the movement of lips toward a smile.

_The tall treetops could wither and wane,_

_And I could grow to using a cane._

_But I still hear his silent goodbye._

_I will still listen, forev'r up high._

The next day, at sunset, I traveled the same path as I had before in hopes that I would see him again.

And Sasuke _was _there again. We held approximately the same conversations we had the day before. I rambled about my day, and he remained silently listening.

For a week, we were together every sunset.

His face was full of numbness, full of nothing. But, at least, he no longer held the same hint of loneliness in his eyes.

When the full week had passed, he finally spoke from the depths of his heart.

"Tenten, what if I disappeared one day?"

I stopped in my tracks, the paleness running to my face. My heartbeat rose, just as the adrenaline rushed to my fingers. Disappeared? Why? "Sasuke-san?"

"Never mind," he said while shaking his head. Still his face resembled that of a warning sign, an omen, a frightening glance into the future. "Stupid question."

_Where was he going? To somewhere quite new?_

_I needed sight of his face less blue . . ._

_The tall treetops could wither and wane,_

_And I could grow to using a cane._

Sasuke was gone. He had left the village and had become a rogue ninja. Our routine had been demolished by the one who had created it himself.

To Otogakure, he had fled as he sought more power to carry out an evil deed. Fled to Orochimaru, the murderer of the Third Hokage.

Learning from a murderer in order to murder another murderer . . . And before that, on the journey to stop him, all of my closest friends had nearly perished! I hated Sasuke. I loathed him with all my soul.

_But I still hear his silent goodbye._

_I will still listen, forev'r up high. _

No, that was not the truth. I still loved Sasuke. I did not really hate him.

Because I cried for Sasuke on the night of his departure.

He was gone, yet I would never tell him goodbye.

-Splasher-


End file.
